LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
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■ 204 ^==^==^^ 

L7 H3 

opv 1 \ SUGGESTION 



As to the most feasible plan by which to preserve 
to posterity the house in which 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIED 



809 




1909 



The House in which Lincoln Died 

Together with the almost invaluable collection of 

relics and other matter connected with 

the life and deeds of the 

MARTYR PRESIDENT 

which it now contains 

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Washington. D. (". 
1908 



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N the I2th day of February, 
1909, the people of the 
United States of America 
will honor the one hundredth 
anniversary of the birth of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Much has been said 
and written in reference to a suit- 
able memorial to be offered by the 
people to commemorate that occa- 
sion. One of these is the construction of a Grand 
Highway, to link the White House with the battle- 
field of Gettysburg, and to cost, approximately, some 
seven millions of dollars. Another, and, it would 
seem, because of its associations, connected with the 
death of the martyr President, a more fitting one, is 
the safe preservation of the house in which he 
breathed his last, and of the large and most valuable 
collection of mementoes connected with his life 
which it now contains, and which it would be impos- 
sible to duplicate. 

This house is the property of the United States 
Government, but the collection of mementoes therein 
is the property of Osborn H. Oldroyd, who has de- 
voted forty-eight years of his life to this work of 
love. 

It has been a most difficult task searching for and 
accumulating all these relics, illustrating, as they do, 
the life of Lincoln, from the strenuous experience of 
early frontier days to that last tragic hour, when a 
great Nation was plunged into mourning; but, with 
patriotism and loyalty at all times in his heart, and 
a fixed tenacity of purpose, Mr. Oldroyd has finally 
succeeded in overcoming all obstacles, and has now a 
collection which is invaluable, inasmuch as it brings 
most deeply to the minds of all who look upon it a 
realization of the homely, simple life of the man who 
literally hewed his own pathway straight to the 
head of the Nation; who guided our Ship of State 
safely through perilous waters, and who finally 
brought it into a haven of safety; a man whose 
memory must ever be held in love, reverence and 
veneration by a grateful people. 

The house in which Abraham Lincoln died is an 
unpretentious, three-story and basement brick struc- 



ture. It is situated in the business section of the 
Nation's Capital, directly across Tenth Street from 
the building formerly known as Ford's Theatre, in 
which the tragedy, which placed a great Nation in 
mourning, occurred on the night of April 14, 1865. 
The house was, at that time, occupied by a family 
bearing the name of Petersen, and, after the tragedy 
in the theatre opposite, its doors were thrown open 
by a young man who was a lodger in the house, to 
receive the wounded President. 

At the present date a sign, conspicuously placed 
in front of the house, informs visitors that "Abra- 
ham Lincoln died in this house at twenty-two min- 
utes past seven a. m., April 15th, 1865." 

A short flight of stone steps leads up to the front 
door, which opens directly into a long hallway, the 
walls of which are well covered with portraits and 
pictures of Lincoln, which had been taken or com- 
pleted at various periods during his life. There are 
nearly three hundred in this collection, besides others 
in groups. 

At the end of this hall is the room in which Lin- 
coln died. A feeling of reverence and awe steals 
over one as he steps across the threshold of this 
room. The sadness of those last moments seem al- 
rnost to linger here still. On its walls are numerous 
pictures rcDresenting his death, also many incidents 
connected with his life. A large American flag is 
stretched across the side wall of the room in which 
he breathed his last, and where the bed stood, but all 
the original furniture of this room has long since dis- 
appeared. 

The other rooms, which consist of a front and 
back parlor, a back room, — in the rear of the one in- 
which he died — and a recent addition back of that, 
are all well filled with interesting mementoes almost 
too numerous to mention. 

There is a library of more than a thousand vol- 
umes, all relating to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil 
War. Also there are almost invaluable magazine 
and newspaper files; five thousand clippings; hun- 
dreds of sermons delivered at the time of his funeral 
in various parts of the Nation; books, pamphlets, 
original letters, addressed to or written by the man 



who, in his unselfish love for humanity, never turned 
a deaf ear to the sorrowing hearts of his country- 
men. There are also many interesting relics that 
lead the visitor step by step, along his career, from 
its humble beginning to the White House. 

There is also a "black-locust" rail, split by Abra- 
ham Lincoln in 1830, and taken from a fence around 
his father's house, as certified to by Governor Rich- 
ard J. Oglesby, of Illinois, and attested to by John 
Hanks in i860. Also his office arm chair, in use 
when he was a struggling, though afterward a bril- 
liant and successful young lawyer, and in which he 
sat when writing his first inaugural address. The 
walnut cradle in which his children were rocked, 
often by his own hand. Pictures of every eventful 
scene in his life. Surely one cannot fail to become 
deeply impressed by this unique and patriotic col- 
lection. It tells the simple, yet incomparable, story 
of his life with such eloquence that its influence lin- 
gers with one almost as an inspiration. 

Mr. Olroyd has always been a great admirer of 
Abraham Lincoln, and began the accumulation of 
this collection because of his respect, love and rev- 
erence for the character of the man. At that time he 
was a member of Company E, 20th Regiment, Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry. When returning from the ser- 
vice he \vas handed three telegrams that had been 
taken from a "bulletin board," which announced, 
amidst the rejoicing of home-going, victorious 
troops, the sad tidings of the Nation's calamity. The 
first of the "headlines" read: "Abraham Lincoln 
was shot in Ford's Theatre. Mortall}^ wounded." 
The second read: "Abraham Lincoln not expected 
to live;" and the third: "Abraham Lincoln died at 
twenty-two minutes past seven this morning." Prior 
to the close of the war, however, Mr. Oldroyd had 
made quite a collection of the speeches of Lincoln, 
during the campaign of i860, as well as of newspaper 
articles relating to him, but after his tragic death, 
as above stated, he states that he saved everything 
he could get hold of which might have any interest 
or bearing on the life or acts of Abraham Lincoln. 

To further this end he removed to Springfield, 
Illinois, in 1873, that he might better prosecute his 

5 



research at the former home of the Martyr President. 
At his earnest request Honorable Robert T. Lincoln 
presented the old Lincoln homestead to the State of 
Illinois. ]\Ir. Oldroyd was appointed custodian of 
the property and until 1893 his collection was on 
exhibition for the public. 

A change of political views, or prejudice, which- 
ever it may be, affecting the administration of af- 
fairs at Springfield, caused his removal, which, how- 
ever, was followed soon afterward by an invitation 
from the Memorial Association of the District of 
Columbia to bring his collection to the Capital City 
of the Nation with a view to its ultimate purchase 
by the Government, and its public exhibition as an 
eloquent tribute to the memory of our martyred 
President. 

The Memorial Association, through a bill intr9- 
duced by Honorable J. D. Sayers, Representative in 
Congress from Texas, finally induced that august 
body to make an appropriation for the purchase of 
the building containing the collection, although no 
appropriation was made for purchase of the collec- 
tion itself, wdiich was accumulated only by years of 
continuous effort and much expense. 

This collection should, without question, belong to 
the Nation, for it is a lamentable fact that no proper 
Lincoln memorial of a National character exists; nor 
is there, within the National Capital, a monument 
really worthy of his memory. 

It would seem that no more fitting memorial could 
be offered to preserve the memory of this great man 
than this house, from which his soul took flight, and 
with it these relics and souvenirs, all of which speak 
so highly and eloquently of his life. That their safe 
preservation should be the sacred duty of the Nation, 
that those now living as well as the countless gen- 
erations to come may all be brought closer to his 
memory. 

The building, as it now stands, in the midst of the 
busy traffic of a great city, is in almost constant 
danger of destruction by fire or other causes, and be- 
fore altogether too late, steps should^ be taken to 
guard against any such possible calamity. 

It is the most earnest desire of Mr. Oldroyd that 



kis life's work, or the results of such work, shall re- 
main for all time in the Nation's Capital, in the 
midst of the stirring scenes and the closing of Abra- 
ham Lincolit's life. For this reason he has declined 
to accept a number of offers from other cities which., 
if accepted, would mean the removal of the entire 
collection. 

Mr. Oldroyd has perfected plans which, if carried 
out properly, will provide a memorial worthy of the 
name of Lincoln, and a shrine at which all Ameri- 
cans would gladly pause to pay homage. 

These are the result of years of careful study_ on 
his part and have been drawn, under his direction, 
by the Government architect, Frederick D. Owen. 
They arrange for the purchase of property on both 
sides of the "Lincoln House," as it is now called. 
The buildings now standing on these lots to be torn 
down and a two-story fireproof building erected on 
the rear of each lot which shall connect with the 
house proper, thereby allowing greater room for the 
collection, which will naturally be added to and in- 
creased in quantity, as well as in value, from time to 
time as the days and years roll by. The open ground 
remaining to be beautified by flowers and shrubbery, 
while the building, as it now stands, will be com- 
pletely encased in a fireproof wall, thereby insuring 
safety for all time. 

To accomplish this, including purchase of tbe col- 
lection, the conservative sum of $150,000.00 will be 
asked. 

A bill will be introduced in Congress at the com- 
ing session, and, in view of its being the Centenary 
year, those interested in its success have strong 
hopes of its passing both houses in time to be able 
to throw open the doors of the "Lincoln Memorial 
Museum" free to the public on the anniversary of the 
birth of Abraham Lincoln. 

HARRIET EUNICE HAWLEY. 



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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




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